84 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



comparative obscurity. Nature compensates them by- 

 giving them a large and attractive flower, or one that is 

 very sweetly scented. The vines of the squash and the 

 pumpkin, whose broad leaves might conceal their 

 flowers, bear them of extraordinary size; and the pas- 

 sion-flower is formed with the most beautiful arrange- 

 ment of parts and variety of colors to render it con- 

 spicuous. The same is true, in a less degree, of the 

 convolvulus and the bignonia. The Mexican vine and 

 some of the honeysuckles, on the contrary, having less 

 conspicuous flowers, receive their compensation by 

 being endowed with an extraordinary amount of fra- 

 grance. 



There are certain trees that bear solitary flowers wide- 

 ly separated from one another. These are either very 

 gaudy like those of the tulip trees, or very sweet like 

 those of the magnolia. Nature has likewise adapted 

 the colors of flowers to their situations. Thus we find 

 the flowers that grow in the shade of woods are mostly 

 white, while those that stand out in the open field often 

 have dark hues, which would be indistinguishable under 

 the shade of the forest. The flowers of most of the 

 fruit trees are white, mixed with shades of crimson ; 

 but as white forms a more conspicuous contrast with 

 green than with the naked branches of the trees, those 

 trees and shrubs that produce their flowers before the 

 leaves are usually pink or crimson. Such are those of 

 the peach and the almond, while the white blossoms of 

 the pear and the cherry do not appear until the foliage 

 is out, and open at the same time with it. The blos- 

 soms of the apple-tree, which appear simultaneously 

 with the development of their leaves, are crimson be- 

 fore they are opened, when the leaves are yet unex- 

 panded, but grow white when the flowers are fully 



